Washington Social Club
Catching Looks
Badman (2004)
"Move the flipping* Audi [away from the front of the club]!" shouted one of the members of the Washington Social Club to the audience. They drew quite a crowd -including an Audi - for a headlining show at the Black Cat in Washington DC. I was not intrigued at first impression; I was there to see another local band and … Read more
Wasted Time
No Shore
Grave Mistake (2007)
Wasted Time basically sounds like Time to Escape but with more gruff vocals and more influences that stem from early New York hardcore than Dischord. Once again, if it's done well, I like it. Wasted Time I like. Actually I like Wasted Time a bit more than Time to Escape since they just go for throat and are a smidge … Read more
Watain
The Wild Hunt
Century Media (2013)
Watain has been on the cusp of something huge for the last couple years. With a handful of great records and a live show that could manage to get a mention from even the most jaded of writers. The band stowed away with an intent to write something that would be true to them but also capitalize on their successes. … Read more
Watain
The Wild Hunt
Century Media (2013)
Watain have been around for a long, long time but it’s only really recently that the band have broken out of the confines of the underground and became a black metal band that graces magazine front covers and headlines tours across the world. The Swedes have been a heady presence on the scene back home and with 2010s Lawless Darkness, their … Read more
Watain
Trident Wolf Eclipse
Century Media (2018)
Spending any length of time with Watain will convince you of at least one thing: this is a band who means it. For this Swedish horde, black metal is life. It’s everything and for frontman Erik Danielsson it’s an integral part of his personality. Interviews with him always tend on the intense side and for Watain that passion spills through … Read more
Water & Bodies
Water & Bodies
Rain City (2009)
One of the newest bands to come out of Portland, Water & Bodies are looking to make an impact in the music world. Despite only forming a few months before, they have already recorded an EP and are hoping it'll lead to great things. Judging from this EP, it will be a while before they make an impact, maybe even … Read more
Wavelets
Athaletics
Tiny Engines (2012)
The term emo is an overused and wrongly purposed adjective in today’s music culture, often used to describe overbearing metalcore. To this young writer “emo” music comes from bands of the nineties that are in the vein of Sunny Day Real Estate and The Promise Ring, characterized by a healthy balance of vocal strain and heartfelt lyrics, not sick breakdowns … Read more
Wayne Hancock
Ride
Bloodshot (2013)
Wayne “The Train” Hancock doesn’t play music to pump you up for a Saturday night on the town. Instead, Hancock’s old-school flavored country is more suited for sitting in a dim bar and lamenting your sorrows, putting the past away and, eventually, moving on. I also discovered on my first listen that it’s quite suitable for -10 degrees Fahrenheit.The album … Read more
We are the Living
Encouragement by Assault
Hungry Ghost Collective (2009)
Do not confuse this Louisiana band with the Tennessee band of the same name. Otherwise you will find yourself looking at a very nice flash based website with a band that has some really bad hair. Louisiana's We are the Living seem to have decent do's and play 90's influenced indie hardcore that you wouldn't be surprised to see on … Read more
We Insist!
Oh! Things are so Corruptible
Corruptible (2007)
Hailing from Paris, France, the bizarrely titled sextet We Insist! recently unveiled the fourth LP of a chronicled and equally reclusive catalogue. With a small following at home-base and even fewer listeners worldwide, new ears could be quick to assume that a moniker of implied force alludes to some kind of emblematic punk rock romp that's heavy on the garage … Read more
We Never Learned To Live
The Sleepwalk Transmissions
Holy Roar Records (2019)
With the music world transferring more and more to a digital world I sometimes feel that the artwork that acompanies an album has become less and less important. I mean, the transition from LP to CD meant the room for artwork was smaller. The transition to the digital format means there’s even less space for artwork. And then there’s stuff … Read more
We Versus The Shark
Ruin Everything!
Hello Sir (2005)
Sharks are awesome. They have big teeth, they've been around since the dinosaurs, and they'll eat anything. Sharks are awesome. We Versus The Shark are pretty cool, too. Their music is razor-sharp and jagged, not unlike shark teeth. But they haven't been around quite as long, it seems. Ruin Everything! is their debut effort. (Pfft. Mick Jagger rocked out with … Read more
We'll Go Machete
We'll Go Machete
Cedar Fever (2009)
Austin, Texas natives We'll Go Machete offer six songs on their debut EP, released through indie label Cedar Fever Records, also based in Austin. It comes in a cardboard sleeve, which for a CD release isn't much plus, there are no lyrics. Over these six songs, We'll Go Machete, blast through twenty minutes of alternative influenced hardcore punk. If you … Read more
We're All Broken
Blacktop Cry
Devildance (2009)
We're All Broken's name may sound familiar to you because they've opened for a lot of big names like Thursday, Minus the Bear, and The Gaslight Anthem over the years. This five-piece have just undergone a bit of a change in style with their new EP, Blacktop Cry. Their former post-hardcore stylings have been abandoned in favor of a more … Read more
We're Doomed
Like A Machine
Independent (2011)
Despite what they may want you to think, We're Doomed don't sound like the end of the world. They sound more like Muse took some Adderall and borrowed whatever illegal-drug-based songwriting method I highly suspect that Battles uses. If their debut EP Like a Machine is the apocalypse, it's certainly the most enjoyable one since we on Earth failed to … Read more
We're Doomed
Like A Machine
Independent (2011)
Despite what they may want you to think, We're Doomed don't sound like the end of the world. They sound more like Muse took some Adderall and borrowed whatever illegal-drug-based songwriting method I highly suspect that Battles uses. If their debut EP Like a Machine is the apocalypse, it's certainly the most enjoyable one since we on Earth failed to … Read more
Wear Your Wounds
WYW
Deathwish Inc. (2017)
Is the world filled with melancholy and sadness that gives way to brief moments of euphoric happiness or joy that carries people from peak to peak, or is that just those of us not blessed with “cheer-y” dispositions nor the ability to feign an air of contentedness or ease? Some people drown themselves in mood altering substances in the hopes … Read more
Weedeater
God Luck and Good Speed
Southern Lord (2007)
When a band's name makes reference to sinful pleasures, especially of the herbal nature, it's a sign their sound will be akin to Black Sabbath; the emphasis on slow riffing that sounds even heavier due to down-tuned instruments. Weedeater is a perfect example, taking the suggestive themes of drug abuse and sacrilege made famous by Sabbath to new heights but … Read more
